


Invitation

by SimmeringSun



Series: The Lost Boys [2]
Category: Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types, Rockman | Mega Man Classic
Genre: Children, Developing Friendships, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Mario Kart References, Swearing, maybe? - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-14 14:57:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16042790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimmeringSun/pseuds/SimmeringSun
Summary: Bass didn't expect Proto Man to actually accept the invitation he left under the bridge, but there the red robot was. Bass just had to pulverize him...in Mario Kart(Technically a sequel to "Under Bridges", Rated T for Bass' swearing)





	Invitation

**Author's Note:**

> This is technically a sequel to "Under Bridges". It can still be read without it, but some parts will make more sense if you read it.

The red robot was outside of Bass’ bedroom window. He had stayed there for half a minute, his fingers against the glass. Bass pretended not to notice the other robot peering in. He kept his eyes glued to his TV and his hands gripped tightly around the game controller. He didn't feign surprise when he heard the soft creak of the window finally opening. He just turned around and looked at the robot hop down from the windowsill, and into his room.

“Yo.”, Proto Man says. His voice is calm, but he's avoiding Bass’ eyes. He looks around the bedroom with his awe barely contained. He has Bass’ blanket from that night two days ago, and Bass isn't sure whether he wants to rip the cover off from Proto's shoulders or not.

“So I guess you came Protodweeb.”, Bass says. It wasn't his best insult, but he was too busy trying to process the fact that the other actually came. Bass has never had anyone besides Wily in his room.

“Well, you invited me.”, Proto says with a shrug. He walks over to where Bass is sitting on the plush carpet and sits down next to him. “Why did you invite me?”

Bass mulls the question in his mind. He thinks about the rainy night under the bridge and the broken state he found the other robot in. His eyes drift back to the blanket and Proto follows his eyes.

“Oh.”, Proto says as he quickly takes the cover off of his shoulders. He holds the soft bundle of cloth in his hands out towards Bass. “Is this why you asked me to visit?”

“What? No I..”, Bass says but then scowls. The image of the tattered blanket Proto had burns in his mind. “Just keep the damn blanket. You got your germs all over it.”

The other robot looks like he's about to argue, but he closes his mouth and puts the cover down to the side. “Ok. You still didn't answer the question.”

“You're the older brother of Megadork. If I beat you, then I beat him right?”, Bass asks. Proto crosses his arms.

“I don't think thats how that-”

“Then I challenge you! We're going to play on my new Switch and I'm going to beat your ass at this game!”, Bass says as he points a finger towards the other robot. A confused look crosses the other's face.

“What is a ‘'Switch’?”, Proto asks. “If it's something that has to do with fighting then I really don't want to-”

“I knew you were pathetic but I didn't know it was this bad.”, Bass says with a groan. He points to the Switch. “This is a Switch. It's only the best thing in gaming history. I'm doing a massive favor by allowing such a low grade robot such as yourself even look at this thing.”

“How generous.”, Proto says dryly.

“Yeah.”, Bass says as he picks up two controllers. He tosses one over to the red robot. This was what friends did right? They played games together?

Bass resists the urge to bang his head against the wall at the thought. The shorter robot was definitely not his friend. Someone as awesome as Bass didn’t need any friends.

“Here's a controller.”, Bass says as he hands the other a controller. The red robot looks confused for a second, holding the device in his hands. Bass rolled his eyes and held his own controller the right way as he started up the game. By the time he got to the title screen, the other had looked over and figured out how to hold his own controller.

“Alright, I'm going to put it on medium since you're an incompetent moron.”, Bass says as he starts a new game.

“Is this Mario Kart?”, Proto asks as he looks at the screen. There's a sliver of excitement that slips out in his voice and Bass grins proudly.

“Yeah, I only play the best games.”, Bass says. “I'm a master at this game.”

“I'm really good at the version that Ro-”, Proto says but then coughs “that Mega Man has.”

“Mega Man plays Mario Kart?”, Bass says as his eyes widen. “Do you beat him at it?”

“Not really...I don't get to play it much but I beat him sometimes.”, Proto says with a shrug.

“If I beat you then I will beat Mega Man at Mario Kart!”, Bass says with a devious smile. The corners of Proto’s mouth tug down and the robot huffs.

“Whatever.”, He says. “Not like you'll beat me anyways.”

“Oh yeah?”, Bass says with a snort. He didn't doubt his gaming skills at all. Not to brag, but he was a pretty awesome gamer. “Then pick your character and let's race.”

Bass quickly picks his character. He always picked Bowser. Bass looks over and sees that Proto picked Shyguy.

“You're kidding me right?”, Bass says with a harsh laugh. He places his arm over Proto’s helmet like an armrest and Proto quickly swats it off. “I guess he is short like you, huh?”

“You're not that taller than me so shut up.”, Proto mumbles as he reaches up and wipes imaginary dust off his helmet. “Besides, I'm going to floor you so hard you'll be flat against the pavement.”

Bass is about to snark back before he hears the familiar sounds of the race starting. He grips the controller in his hand and stares intently at the game.

Should he go easy on the poor defenceless robot next to him? That sounded like the nice thing to do, but Bass wasn't known for his generosity. Nah, he was going to pulverize him.

The race starts and Proto goes naturally in the lead due to his light character. Bass quickly rams into him, and his character goes ahead.

“Ha!”, Bass yells out. He glances over and expects the other to be sulking but he's still got that damn calm smile on his face.

The two go neck to neck for the first lap; constantly passing each other up like a game of tag. Then comes second lap and Proto is soaring ahead.

Bass scowls but keeps his eyes on the game, his eyes squinting. When he finally goes back in the lead in the middle of the third lap he grins. Too easy. Proto was about to be crushed, dead, pulverized.

Then it hit him. A green shell that is.

Bass’ eye twitches as the Shy Guy crosses the finish line in front of him. To make matters worse, one of the computers passed him up while his character was recovering in the shell, landing him in third place.

“Cheer up Bass. It's two out of three, so maybe you can catch up.”, Proto says with a snicker as he mockingly pats Bass’ shoulder. Bass slaps Proto’s hand off and practically growls.

“I'm going to fucking kill you!”, Bass says to the other. Proto laughs. Bass starts to regret inviting him over.

One game turns into two, and two gamed turn into five. Pretty soon the two have played nineteen rounds; a tally chart with their win count was made upon Bass’ request. Proto only caught Bass trying to add tallies to his side twice.

“Fuck you, twizzlers are great!”, Bass yells at the other with earnest, and Proto shakes his head in disgust.

“I'll eat anything, but I will not eat twizzlers. I even ate raw fish before.”, Proto says. His tongue is stuck out a little in concentration.

“Raw fish? Wait was it still moving?”, Bass asks with widened eyes.

“I swear it was, but Rock said it wasn't”, Proto says but immediately clamps his mouth shut.

“Who's Rock?”, Bass asks. What kind of person gets named after dumb rocks? This person must be boring.

“It's just a friend.”, Proto says as he rubs the back of his neck. He turns back to the screen and smiles. “Hey look I won again.”

“Alright so now it's 11-9. Me being 11.”, Bass says as he puffs his chest out. “I really am the best at this game.”

“No way, you added those two tallies.”, Proto says.

“No I did not!”, Bass says as he punches Proto's arm.

The two's chatter dies down. Bass looks to the window and notices the sun has gone down, and the sky is pitch black. Have they really been playing for that long?

“Hey Bass.”, Proto says. Bass turns away from the window and looks at the Lightbot. He's looking at his boots, picking dirt off the soles. Bass feels like scolding him for ruining his carpet, but he just wants the other to finish his sentence first.

“Why did you invite me here? Isn't it dangerous. I mean, we are on different sides.”, Proto says. 

Bass thinks about it for a minute. It makes sense. Proto Man was Mega Man’s brother. Proto can decide to run to Mega Man as soon as he leaves. He can have Mega Man crawl through the window during the night, and Mega Man could put a hole in his head. But Mega Man is not the type to do that. He was too soft.

“I just wanted to beat someone at Mario Kart. I knew I was the best at it, but I just wanted data to support it.”, Bass says. “So you're going to tell Mega Man about this place.”

“No.”, Proto Man says without a thought. He looks around Bass’ room that had posters on the wall, and a shelf full of games in the corner. “This is your home. I can't take away someone's home. I can't make someone feel unsafe in their own home.”

Proto’s calm smile drops when he says this. Bass thinks about the night under the bridge. The words Proto said. They made Bass feel weird. He's never felt worry for anything besides Treble before. And he refused to be worried over such a lowly robot as the one next to him. Yeah, he refused.

“Weak.”, Bass says and Proto snorts.

“You're really something Bass.”, Proto says.

“Yeah, something awesome. I already know.”, Bass says

“I should go. I don't want Wily to catch me here. We don't exactly get along.”, Proto says as he stands up. He picks the blanket up.

“Do you get along with any doctor?”, Bass asks with a roll of his eyes.

“Only one, and he lives in Russia.”, Proto says. He hops up on the windowsill and looks behind him once more. “Thanks Bass.”

“Shut up!”, Bass barks. This guy really pissed him off. “If you feel like getting pulverized again then you can come over and get your ass handed to you. I have a lot of games I'm the master at.”

“Ok.”, Proto says. He gives a peace sign before he jumps out.

“Stupid.”, Bass says out loud in the empty room. He huffs as he looks at the two controllers. “So fucking stupid.”


End file.
